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CNET editors' rating:
stars
Excellent
Detailed editors' rating - Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 8 reviews
- See all user reviews
Product summary
The good: Relatively compact design; gorgeous, polished-black, high-gloss finish; superflexible connectivity options; 1,500 watts of room-quaking power; 10-inch woofer assisted by two nonpowered 10-inch drivers.
The bad: It ain't cheap.
The bottom line: The SuperCube I has oodles of visceral power in a compact package, but it may not satisfy music-oriented listeners.
Specifications: Type of speaker: subwoofer ; Dimensions (WxDxH): 14.3 in x 14.3 in x 14.1 in ; Amplification type: Active ; See full specs
CNET editors' review
- Reviewed on: 08/05/2002
You want bass? Trust us, Definitive Technology's awesome little SuperCube I will rock your world. Little? This 14-inch cube sub is smaller than most of the so-so subs that come packed with home-theater kits, but the 75-pound bruiser can belt out deep and powerful bass.
Built to the hilt
Subwoofers are usually fairly drab-looking components, but the SuperCube I--decked out in its high-gloss, black-lacquer top and wraparound, black-cloth grille--is an understated beauty. Fortified with a Definitive-designed 1,500-watt Class D digital-switching amplifier, the SuperCube I's 10-inch polymer active woofer, along with its two 10-inch passive radiators, can mimic the air-moving muscle of a much larger sub.
Connectivity options cover all the basses--er, bases; the SuperCube I's direct (unfiltered) input is the best route for your A/V receiver's subwoofer output. Have an ancient Dolby Pro Logic or stereo receiver? Then you'll want to take advantage of the SuperCube I's high-pass crossover, which will reduce the amount of bass fed to your left- and right-front speakers so that they play louder with lower distortion. We loved the room-tuning features, such as the continuously variable phase control and the variable--40Hz to 150Hz--low-pass and high-pass crossover controls. This rare flexibility will help stereo users integrate the SuperCube I's prodigious output with a pair of speakers.
Adding a sub such as the SuperCube I to an otherwise adequate system is like strapping a turbo unit to a
car's engine; the audio system will feel more powerful. The Saving Private Ryan DVD's explosive soundtrack went shudderingly deep and easily pressurized our large listening room with bass. So don't judge this sub by its size--the SuperCube I throttled Polk's much larger, though less expensive, 12-inch sub. The Def Tech went substantially deeper and played louder.
Moving on to CDs, we were less impressed. Yes, the SuperCube I plumbed the depths on the organ that opens Philip Glass's Koyaanisqatsi CD, but the sound wasn't as clean and as pitch-accurate as our reference sub, a REL Storm III. The SuperCube I delivered the requisite oomph on the heavy-duty kick drum and bass guitar on the live Clash CD From Here to Eternity, but the bottom end wasn't as articulate as we would have liked.
At $1,199, the SuperCube I is not cheap, but it's less expensive and sounds far better and more musical than Sunfire's $1,495 high-output/ultracompact True MK IV sub. That said, we'd still recommend the SuperCube I for home-theater buffs rather than music-oriented listeners.
User reviews
- Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 8 reviews
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